One day in Venice

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Out and about with the Tamron AF 18-270-mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD

One day in Venice

When setting off on a quick getaway to Venice a few days ago, we didn’t want to cart all our camera equipment with us, so we chose Tamron’s AF 18-270-mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD travel zoom lens as an alternative. Its focal distance ranges from extreme wide angle to super tele, and the zoom range on the APS-C sensor extends to 27-405 mm (equivalent to 35-mm format), which is perfect for capturing the diverse subjects found in a city like Venice using one single lens.

Unlike the light-intensive but comparatively heavy pro lenses, the travel zoom hits the mark in three main categories:

Focal distance: The travel zoom is the perfect all-purpose lens for any situation. Regardless of whether you want to shoot the densely packed gondolas in the narrow canals, or capture an architectural detail on one of the Venetian palaces, the wide-angle setting (18 mm) puts enthralling snapshots in the centre of the action, while the maximum tele setting (270 mm) will get you up close to even very distant details.

Weight and size: We certainly didn’t miss our heavy camera equipment. Amidst the teeming masses in Venice’s narrow alleyways and packed squares, we were indeed happy to be only carrying around a light bag. The 18-270-mm zoom lens not only acted as a replacement for all our camera equipment; it is also super compact. At just 8.8 cm in length and weighing 450 g, it is easily stowed away even in a small shoulder bag. In total, our combination of DSLR and 18-270-mm travel zoom only weighed 1.23 kg – perfect for a long day on your feet.

Image stabiliser: The lens is fitted with an image stabiliser. A tripod is a hindrance when you don’t have much time or when you’re shooting at very popular sites such as Piazza San Marco. The 18-270-mm travel zoom has an image stabiliser (Vibration Compensation), which effectively compensates for the practically inevitable camera shake when shooting with longer focal distances.

Our summary: We found the 18-270-mm travel zoom to be ideal for a city getaway. Not only is it extremely compact and lightweight; it also allows you to shoot all kinds of subjects from one single location (cf. images 1828, 1834 and 1835).

For us, one of the key factors in favour of this lens was that it also produced impressive image quality, as evidenced by test results in photography magazines: In Fototest 3/2011, it won the test with a grade of VERY GOOD, and the readers of Chip Foto Video rated it VERY GOOD in the individual test in the 10/2011 issue.